Dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions as a mediator of symptom reduction in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with children and adolescents: Results of a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the change in dysfunctional posttraumatic cognitions (PTC) during Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a mediator of posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) reduction in a sample of children and adolescents. METHOD: A bootstrap mediation analysis was performed to investigate the indirect effect of dysfunctional PTC on treatment outcome in a recently completed RCT study with children and adolescents (n = 123; 7-17 years old) that investigated the effectiveness of TF-CBT. RESULTS: The mediation model revealed that changes in dysfunctional PTC mediated the relationship between the group (TF-CBT vs. waitlist) and PTSS at the end of treatment. CONCLUSION: Change in dysfunctional PTC is an important mechanism mediating the reduction of PTSS in TF-CBT. Monitoring dysfunctional PTC throughout treatment might, therefore, be an important factor in optimizing treatment outcome.